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Incorporated under the Laws of Virginia, 


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Capital Stock, $250,000, 10,000 Shares, 


PAH VALUE, $25.00. 



$20.00 Paid in, Subject to no Further Assessment. 


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From tlie IPi’ess of James Lucas &c Son. 

1868. 

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Moffetts Creek Marble Company 
Map Of H ite & Armstrong Properties Augusta County V*. 1868. 



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THE MOFFETT’S CREEK 


Marble Company of Virginia, 

Incorporated under the Laws of Virginia, 


Capital Stock, $250,000, 10,000 Shares, 

PAH VALUE, $25.00. 


$20.00 Paid in, Subject to no Further Assessment, 

4 



ITrom tlie Press oP James Lucas Son. 

1868. 




OFFICERS. 

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President: 

Hon. A. H. H. STEUART, Staunton. 

Vice President: Treasurer: Secretary: 

F. AUG. SAVIN. W. II. ARCHER. S. M. CAMPBELL. 

Counsellors: 

AMOS F. MUSSELMAN, Baltimore. 

Hon. JNO. B. BALDWIN, Staunton. 

ECHOLS, BELL & CATLETT, “ 

4 

Directors : 

A. H. H. STEUART, Staunton. SYDNEY M. CAMPBELL, W. Va. 
F. AUG. SAVIN, Baltimore. CHAS. H. WARNER, Smyrna, Del. 
W. H. ARCHER, “ W. L. TETER, Meta, Ohio. 

Offices : 

Staunton, Va., and Baltimore, Md. 



1808 - 





Moffett’s Creek Marble Company. 


—♦- 


There has recently been brought to the attention of the 
public a discovery of a very extensive deposit of a very superior 
article of Marble in Augusta County, Virginia, not far from 
Staunton. 

In order to appreciate fully the importance of this discovery, 
it is proper to consider some statistics connected with the trade 
in Marble. Marble is largely employed in the United States 
for public buildings, the fronts of stores in cities, and for many 
other purposes. Its employment has, in recent years, been 
very rapidly extending. There has been a large trade in it 
between the North and South, and between the East and West. 
The Marble Custom House at Charleston, S. C., was built of 
stone from Massachusetts and New York. Every block was 
fitted at the quarry for the place it was to occupy in the build¬ 
ing. By reference to the Report of the Secretary of the Trea¬ 
sury, published in 1864, on the “Statistics of the Foreign and 
Domestic Commerce of the United States,” it will be seen how 
large and very much increased was the trade in Marble between 
the E^ist and the West. The imports of foreign Marble at the 
port of New York alone in 1866, amounted to more than the 
imports into the whole country in 1859. 

According to the census of 1860, it appears that there were 
at that time in the United States in operation, establishments 
for the manufacture of Marble and Stone work, (principally it 



4 


is believed. Marble work,) to the number of 1,806 ; with a 
capital employed of nearly nine (9) millions of dollars, that 
the raw material cost between live and six millions, that the 
number of bands employed was more than fifteen (15) thou¬ 
sand, that the annual cost of labor was between five and six 
millions of dollars, and that the annual value of products was 
more than sixteen millions of dollars. 

The business in Marble lias largely increased since that time, 
and it will continue to increase as we advance in wealth and 
luxury. The experience of older nations and our own expe¬ 
rience and present tendencies abundantly prove this. 

Premising this, and in order more fully to understand the 
bearings of this discovery of an immense deposit of fine Mar¬ 
ble, in its pecuniary aspects, so far as it concerns those who are 
able and willing to co-operate, to avail themselves of it, let us 
inquire : 

What is Marble and what are some of the differences between 
the various kinds, which make so much difference in their com¬ 
parative values ? 

“Marble in its strict and proper sense is a rock crystallized 
in a saccharoidal manner, having the fracture of sugar-loaf, 
and composed of carbonate of lime, either almost pure when 
the color is white, or combined with oxide of iron or other im¬ 
purities which give various colors to it. But many other kinds 
of stone are popularly included under this title. Indeed any 
limestone rock sufficiently compact to admit of a polish is called 
Marbl e. ’ ’— Chambers’ Encyclopaedia . 

“The White Marbles of Connecticut and New York are 
highly granular, and in general, are too slightly coherent in 
the aggregation of their particles to be employed in construc¬ 
tions which are exposed to the weather; besides they are often 
contaminated with crystals and fibres of tremolite.”— Encyclo¬ 
paedia Americana. 

The specific gravity of Marble is about 2.7 and the weight 
of a cubic foot about 169 pounds. 


Marble is sometimes what is called a dolomite , that is, instead 
of being composed almost purely of carbonate of lime, compo¬ 
sed to a great extent of carbonate of magnesia. A pure dolo¬ 
mite consists of 54.3 of carbonate of lime, and 45.7 per cent, 
of carbonate of magnesia. It occurs in extensive beds as a 
compact limestone, and also as a crystalline granular rock, 
either white or clouded. Much of the common white Marble 
is dolomite. 

“The Marble of Sing Sing, New York, is a true dolomite 
and of a kind disposed to disintegrate and rapidly crumble 
away. ******** Most of the white marbles 
are dolomites.”— New American Encyclopaedia. 

Marble is also sometimes what is termed brecciated , that is, 
consists of angular fragments cemented together. Brecciated 
is a term used to describe a rock composed of angular fragments, 
either of the same mineral or of different minerals united by a 
cement. 

“Among the brecciated marbles of the United States, the 
best known is that of the Potomac on the Maryland side, some 
miles below the Point of Rocks. The principal use that has 
been made of it was to furnish the columns in the old chamber 
of representatives at Washington. The irregularities of hard¬ 
ness in the different ingredients render it an expensive stone to 
work ; still the quarries are deserving of more than govern¬ 
ment patronage.”— New Encyclopaedia Americana. 

“The Point of Rocks Marble has been designated a ‘ pudding 
stone.’ Pudding stone is a term applied to Marble which con¬ 
tains in its composition, fragments not angular, but rounded 
like pebbles. It is a conglomerate of rounded pieces.”— lire's 
Dictionary. 

Thus we see, that according to the composition of Marble, is 
the ease with which it is worked, and its capacity to be work¬ 
ed in every direction and its not being liable to splinter, as well 
as the expense of quarrying and working it, and its durability 
and its adaptability to the various purposes for which it is used 


6 


as building, furniture, interior work, statuary, &c., all ot 
which go to make up its value. It is more or less valuable 
according to its fineness of texture, its softness and the ease 
with which it is fashioned by the chisel or hammer, and its 
evenness of grain, so as to be split with wedges. 

“The Parian Marble of which some of the finest Grecian 
sculptures were formed, is a finely granular and very durable 
stone, with a waxy appearance when polished.”— Chambers’ 
Encyclopaedia. 

Ure’s Dictionary calls the Parian Marble a foliated lime¬ 
stone. 

“In North America, White Marbles are worked at various 
places on the range of the great belt of metamorpldc rocks 
through Canada, Vermont, Western Massachusetts, a little 
back of the Cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and 
Washington, and thence through Virginia and the Carolinas 
into Northern Georgia and Alabama. It is this formation that 
supplies the White Marble for building purposes to the differ¬ 
ent cities along its range, (as from Sing Sing, New York, the 
quarries near Philadelphia, and at Texas near Baltimore,) and 
its quarries in Massachusetts and New York furnish the Marble 
for the most costly edifices of Southern Cities. The Statuary 
Marble is only the finest grained variety of this common build¬ 
ing stone. Many localities are known to furnish it in small 
beds interstratified with the coarser Marble. In Vermont only 
have they been found of sufficient thickness to justify working 
them. The quarries of Rutland, furnish Marble of exceedingly 
delicate texture and purity of whiteness, and the blocks are 
large and round, and quite as beautiful as the Statuary Marble 
of Carrara. The objections to it are, that it is harder and 
more brittle than the foreign. These defects will probably 
diminish as the stone is obtained from beneath deeper cover.”— 
Neio Encyclopaedia Americana. 

When Marble is composed almost altogether of carbonate of 
lime, its color is white and of a fine shade, and its texture is 


7 


fine, making it very valuable. It is easily worked at compa¬ 
ratively little expense, is susceptible of a high polish, and ar¬ 
ticles made from it have a high finish. 

a 

“Carrara is a fine grained, pure white Marble, but is so often 
traversed by gray veins, that it is difficult to get large blocks 
free from them.”— Chambers’ Encyclopaedia. 

Indeed it is difficult to get even moderate sized blocks free 
from them. 

No ocean traversing vessels can load at the beach helow 
Carrara, as the depth of water is too inconsiderable, and coast¬ 
ers have to be used to convey the Marble for shipment else¬ 
where on large vessels. Then again, Carrara Marble has to 
combat with government restrictions and imposts, the ill- 
directed enterprise of the proprietors, and the expense of get¬ 
ting the stone to the coast of the Mediterranean, some miles 
distant, over miserable ox-tracks, in antediluvian ox-wagons, 
and then of placing it on vessels to be carried to deeper water 
to be transferred to larger vessels. 

About half the Marble in blocks, quarried at Carrara, is 
exported to the United States, which appears to be a good and 
steady market. Of the other half, one-third is exported to 
Great Britain, and two-thirds to the rest of Europe. A heavy 
duty is levied on Carrara Marble in France in order to keep up 
the demand for home produce. Notwithstanding these disad¬ 
vantages, Carrara Marble is much used there. In England 
they have various native marbles, and yet in 1859 the best 
Carrara Marble in rough blocks or slabs, sol<J. for as much as 
three pounds per cubic foot, equal at the present price for gold, 
(140,) to twenty-one dollars per cubic foot in our currency. 

In the selection of the Marble for the extension of the United 
States Capitol, careful experiments were made by the commis¬ 
sion appointed for this purpose, in testing the qualities of the 
different kinds offered. The Marble selected is a fine grained 
dolomite, from a quarry in the southeast part of Lee, Massa¬ 
chusetts, for the most part white with occasional blue veins.— 


8 


Its composition is as follows in one hundred parts : Carbonate 
of lime 54.621, carbonate of magnesia 43.932 with various 
impurities making up the 100. When this Marble was placed 
in the walls, a remarkable brownish discoloration appeared.— 
This was owing to its great porosity, the cause having been 
traced to the evaporation of the water absorbed from the mor¬ 
tar and otherwise through its pores, and the deposition of the 
impurities brought along by the water. 

Now it is believed that Marble lias been found superior to 
any American Marble heretofore known, and the equal of the 
Italian, and that the deposit is one of immense extent. The 
section of country in which this deposit has been found is in 
Augusta County, Virginia, not far from the town of Staunton. 
It is in two localities, one on Moffett’s Creek and the other on 
Christie’s Creek. 

The Moffett’s Creek Quarry is upon the creek of that name. 
Moffett’s Creek flows into the North River, the North River 
into the James. The McAdamized road leading from Staun¬ 
ton, the county seat of Augusta County, to Lexington, the 
county seat of Rockbridge County, passes over the edge of the 
Quarry tract. The distance from the Quarry to Staunton on 
the Virginia Central Rail Road, leading to Richmond, is six¬ 
teen miles, and the distance of the Quarry from Swoope’s Depot 
on the same rail road is twelve miles. The distance of the 
Quarry from Lexington is nineteen miles. At Lexington there 
is water transportation by the North River Canal to the James 
River Canal, whipli goes to Richmond on the James River.— 
Up from Lexington towards the Quarry, the North River is 
navigable for batlcaux about eleven miles, which will bring 
water transportation within nine or ten miles of the Quarry. 
For transportation West, the Covington and Ohio Road, a con¬ 
tinuation of the Virginia Central from Staunton to the Ohio 
River, will, when completed, give rail road transportation in 
that direction, and drive the Vermont Marble out of the mar¬ 
ket, as that of this Quarry is superior to the Vermont article, 
and equal if not superior to the Italian. The friends of this 
road are using all efforts to put it under contract. 


9 


Besides these means of transportation, there was obtained at 
the last session of the Virginia Legislature, a charter for what 
is known as the Valley Rail Road. This will eventually secure 
rail road communication from the East Tennessee and Virginia 
Rail Road, now in operation and connecting with the various 
lines South and West, down the Valley of Virginia, crossing 
the Virginia Central Rail Road by Staunton, and the Manassas 
Gap Rail Road, which enters the Valley at a pass in the Blue 
Ridge not far from Strasburg, a town in the Valley, and on 
towards Winchester, also in the Valley. There is in operation 
under the management of the Baltimore and Ohio Road, a rail 
road from its road to Winchester. From Winchester to Stras¬ 
burg—distant from the former place eighteen miles up the 
Valley—there is a rail road now being built. From Strasburg 
up the Valley and beyond Harrisonburgh and to within about 
twenty miles of Staunton, the Manassas Gap Rail Road has 
been built and in operation for years. The intention and effort, 
temporarily delayed by the war, is immediately to carry it up 
to Staunton. The Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road, with its vast 
resources, under its present intelligent and enterprising man¬ 
agement, is alive to the importance of speedily completing per¬ 
fect rail road connection with itself up the fertile Valley of 
Virginia to Staunton and on to Lexington and to the East Ten¬ 
nessee and Virginia Rail Road. Before the era of rail roads, 
produce from East Tennessee used to he transported by heavy 
wagon teams down the Valley of Virginia to Baltimore. 

This is the short interior route from East Tennessee to the 
North and East, to the seaboard and a market. 

The experimental line of this Valley Rail Road has been run 
on two different routes by the civil engineers of the company. 
One of them has been run within five hundred yards of the 
Quarry, and the other within about three and a half miles of 
it. It is the opinion that this road will soon he built. 

At present the Marble will have to he hauled either to Staun¬ 
ton, sixteen miles, or to Swoope’s Depot, twelve miles, or to 
9 . 


10 


navigation on the North River, ten miles. A good four horse 
team will haul about fifty cubic feet at a cost of about four dol¬ 
lars and a half a load. The cost of transporting the same 
amount of Marble from Staunton to Baltimore, would he about 
twenty-five dollars and fifty cents more, making the cost ot 
transportation from the Quarry to Baltimore, of the fifty cubic 
feet about thirty dollars. Transportation by the canal route, 
via Lexington, would he cheaper, and by the Manassas Gap 
Rail Road to Alexandria, and thence by water, still less. On 
inquiry, it has been ascertained that the rail roads charge for 
100 lbs. from Staunton to Richmond, for undressed 27, and 
dressed 94, to Alexandria 23 and 76 respectively. 

As to the cost of getting the Marble out, it may be stated, 
that in the locality of the Quarry labor is plenty and low in 
price. It is wholly an agricultural section. Hands can be ob¬ 
tained for one dollar per day—they boarding themselves. This 
item, lessening so much the cost of getting out the Marble, is 
of much importance in estimating the value of the Quarry. 

As to the Quarry itself, a vein of the Pure White Marble is 
within about twenty or twenty-five feet of the top of a hill, 
where it juts out and where it was opened at first. The vein 
at one place seems to be nearly vertical, and at another to in¬ 
cline horizontally and to appear to run into the hill. At one 
place where it is vertical, the side stone has been removed down 
about seven feet. Here the vein, which is two feet and a half 
wide at the surface where it shows itself, was found at the depth 
of seven feet, to be fully four and a half feet thick of the Pure 
White Marble. The rock at the surface by its sides, is a lime¬ 
stone of coarse gray, or passing from gray to blue. This rock 
as it descends, runs into a fine article of variegated Marble, in 
some places nearly two-thirds white, and which judges of the 
matter say will run into a ledge of Marble similar to the pure 
xohite vein. It is well known that surface rock of the same 
sort is not as good as that found lower down. The vein of pure 
ivhite at the surface seems to run in nearly an east and west 


11 


direction. The distance from the extreme ends of the openings 
made of the vein, is fully sixty feet. At the western end of 
that sixty feet, the vein seems to lie horizontally, dipping into 
the hill. At this point, an opening has been made of seven or 
eight feet and the Marble shows itself at a distance from the 
surface of about nine inches down to as far as the side stone 
has been removed. The stone stripped from the top of the 
vein here was limestone gray passing into blue. The stone 
from the side of the vein has not been removed for the whole 
of the sixty feet. It must he remembered that these openings 
are within twenty or twenty-five feet of the top of the hill, the 
height being about one hundred and fifty feet from the bottom 
of the creek. Down the hill to the right, sloping some fifty 
yards and on a .straight line from the opening, down about, say 
seventy feet, another vein of fine white Marble has been disco¬ 
vered. All the small and large stones from the foot of the hill 
to its top, that is, all the surface rock, are a mixture of white 
Marble, variegated Marble, and of the gray limestone passing 
into blue rock. Both ways from where the vein juts out and 
the openings have been made in a direction corresponding with 
the course of the vein, the surface loose stones and occasiona uy 
pure ivhite seams from an inch to afoot broad are proof positive 
of a vein or deposit of Pure While Marble. These croppings can 
be traced in one direction for fifteen hundred yards, and at no 
point in the immediate vicinity can there be found rock with¬ 
out apparent traces of the white Marble. Across the bottom, 
west from the Quarry, at the foot of another hill, one hundred 
and fifty feet or more below where the vein juts out and the 
openings are made, there is what some have called the outcrop¬ 
ping of white Marble; one scientific gentleman calls it the 
blossom Galena, a species of lead ore. The surrounding coun¬ 
try is underlaid by limestone rock. Judging from the surface 
and the openings made at different places, it is believed that 
from the foot of the hill below the jutting out of the vein, up 
to the horizontal vein, there are continuous stratas of the white 


12 


Marble, and that the vertical vein goes into the earth for a 
considerable distance and consequently that the quantity of 
Pure White Marble is very great, not to dwell upon the variega¬ 
ted Marble, some of which is more than two-thirds white. 

There is another matter of very great importance to mention 
in connection with this Quarry. Moffett’s Creek upon which 
it is situated, is fed by never failing springs, and within two 
hundred yards of the Quarry there is water power sufficient to 
do all work of sawing and dressing of Marble at all seasons of 
the year. A fall for water power, seventy-five feet high can be 
obtained if necessary. 

The tract of land upon which this Quarry is situated, con¬ 
tains one hundred and forty acres of land. 

The other Marble Quarry lies on Christie’s Creek, a tributa¬ 
ry of the South River, a tributary of the Shenandoah River in 
Augusta County. The tract containing it consists of about two 
hundred and fifty acres. The Marble extends for nearly a half 
mile through this tract. It is nearly vertical, has a blueisli 
gray limestone upon both sides of it. Where it juts out it is 
about six feet thick. In color white—it is not quite so white 
on the surface as the pure white of the Moffett’s Creek Quarry, 
but it is believed it will be found as white when mined down a 
few feet. Many years ago it was partly opened and used in 
the vicinity for tombstones, and also pieces were taken out for 
furniture, which answered the purpose intended admirably.— 
It is situated eleven miles from Staunton. There is sufficient 
water power upon the premises to drive any machinery that may 
be used. 

There is also upon this tract a ledge of good gray Marble, 
probably six to eight feet thick. The surrounding country 
is a succession of hills from fifty to three hundred feet high, 
above the bed of the water courses. That there is an immense 
quantity of the While Marble here there can be no doubt what¬ 


ever. 


13 


Geographically these Quarries are so situated as to give them, 
if properly developed and managed, the control of the whole 
Southern and Western Trade, while the Quality of the Marble 
will cause it to supplant that from the Vermont Quarries in the 
Northern States. 

This latter or Christie’s Creek Quarry is about eight miles 
from the former or Moffett’s Creek Quarry. 

From numerous letters from persons thoroughly posted as to 
the quality and amount of these marble deposits, we think it 
quite sufficient to publish the three following letters, the first 
from the lion. Alexander H. H. Steuart of Staunton, Va., who 
was Secretary of the Department of the Interior during the 
administration of Mr. Fillmore ; the second letter is from the 
distinguished chemist and geologist, Professor Win. E. A. 
Aiken, and the third is from Professor Richard Owen of the 
Indiana State University. 


Staunton, Va., June 29th. 18G8. 

Messrs. ARCHER k SAVIN. 

Gentlemen :—When I was in charge of the Department of the Interior, during the 
administration of Mr. Fillmore, it became my duty to supervise the erection of the 
new wings to the Capitol of the United States. Feeling a strong desire to select the 
best attainable material, I organized a commission, consisting of Prof. Henry, Gen’l 
Totten, Mr. Ewbank, Thos. N. Walter and Mr. Downing, and instructed them to ex¬ 
amine all the specimens of Marble and Granite which had been proposed as material 
for the walls, and to apply to them every test known to science. They fulfilled this 
duty with great care, and I then submitted their report, with specimens of the Marble 
and Granite to the Committees on Public Buildings of the two Houses of Congress. 
This commission reported very decidedly in favor of the Vermont Marble and the 
Richmond Granite, and by the advice of the commission, they were selected. 

Whilst this matter was pending before the Department, I had opportunities of in¬ 
specting specimens of Marble taken from all the principal quarries in the Northern 
States, and I concurred in opinion, with the commission, that the Vermont Marble 
was the best. 

Within the last year, I have seen specimens of Marble taken from the Moffett's Creek 
Quarries in Augusta County, Va., and 1 have no hesitation in expressing the opinion 
that the Moffett’s Creek Marble is whiter, finer grained, and in all respects better, 
than any that was exhibited to me in Washington. It is true I am not an expert in 
such matters, but the pure whiteness and the clear compact grain of the Virginia 
Marble must strike the most casual observer. 


14 


I have given no personal examination to the Moffett’s Creek Quarries, but from 
representations made to me by persons in 'whom I have entire confidence, I cannot 
doubt that the deposit is large and valuable, and I earnestly hope that a sufficient 
amount of capital, skill and enterprise may be enlisted in the undertaking now on 
foot to develope these quarries fully. From the information given to me by the par¬ 
ties above referred to, I feel great confidence that these quarries can be extensively 
worked with profit to the stockholders and benefit to the public. 

Very respectfully yours, kc., 

ALEX. H. II. STEUART. 


Baltimore, June 5th , 18G8. 

Messrs. ARCHER k SAVIN, Bankers. 

Gentlemen :—The samples of Marble from Augusta County, Va., received last week, 
and'since polished, exhibit so great an improvement when compared with the surface 
specimens first obtained, that there can be no reasonable doubt as to its condition, 
when the beds are properly developed. The quality of the Marble is beyond all 
question very superior, and from a personal examination of the deposits, I can say 
there is abundant evidence that the Marble can be procured in large quantity. 

When the quarries are once properly opened, I am of opinion that you can safely 
calculate on an abundant supply of Marble fully equal to the best Italian. 

Respectfully, &c., 

WILLIAM E. A. AIIvIN, M. D., LL.D., 
Prof. Chemistry , <jr., University of Md ., Analytical and Consulting Chemist. 


New Harmony, Posey County, Indiana, Feb. 2 6th, 18G8. 
Messrs. ARCHER & SAVIN, Baltimore , Md. 

Gentlemen: —Mr. Sidney M. Campbell of Western Virginia, recently sent me a 
specimen of White Marble from Augusta County, Virginia, with the request that 1 
would analyze it and give my opinion of it in a geological, mineralogical and chem¬ 
ical point of view, in a letter addressed to you. 

I was then at the Indiana State University, Bloomington, where I am professor, 
but being temporarily called home just after the receipt of his communication, the 
analysis was made here, in the laboratory of my late brother, (Dr. D. D. Owen, State 
Geologist of Kentucky and Arkansas,) and resulted as follows : 

Lime, ...... 54.44 

Carbonic Acid, water and loss, . . . 45.5G 


100.00 

There was scarcely a trace of insoluble matter and no iron. After allowing for the 
water and loss, the above would differ but little from pure carbonate of lime, (viz : 
5G of lime and 44 of carbonic acid,) consequently there is no foreign admixture which 
could prevent it from being considered among the purest of marbles. The specimens 





15 


sent are too small to enable me to speak positively regarding the absence of all flaws 
or other mechanical defects in larger blocks ; but so far as I can judge from these speci¬ 
mens, there are no flaws or cracks, and the Marble takes a much higher polish than 
the Vermont Marble, such as is usually shipped West for tombstones; and it seems 
fully equal to the Italian Marble used by our stonecutters for the more expensive and 
ornamental work. 

As regards the geological position, this Marble was obtained when we might theo¬ 
retically expect to find a good article. The Alleghany upheaval is generally considered 
to have taken place about the close of the Carboniferous Era and to have brought to 
the surface some of the Metamorphic Sedimentary rocks. The best statuary marbles 
are of this character, and the fine marbles of East Tennessee, (used in the Nashville 
capitol,) and those of North Carolina, (which I examined last Summer,) and the 
Augusta County Marble of Virginia are nearly on a continuous line parallel to the 
general range of the Appalachian chain, and consequently but a short distance apart, 
say 250 miles from the first to the last, the second being intermediate. 

All marbles of a later period are liable to be fossiliferous, and are thus unsuited 
for the finer works of the artist. The best Italian Marbles belong to the Metamorphic 
Series, to which 1 presume the above to belong, as far as I can judge without visiting 
the locality. The Vermont Marble is much softer than the North Carolina and Vir¬ 
ginia specimens I have seen, I presume in consequence of being less metamorphosed 
by the forces which acted in giving a greater elevation to the peaks and ridges of 
North Carolina and Virginia, than to those at the extreme north and south ends of 
the same Appalachian range. 

I should, therefore, consider the Virginia samples as indicating not only greater 
adaptation for finer work, but also greater durability than the softer varieties. 

Very respectfully yours, 

RICHARD OWEN, 

Professor of Chemistry and Geology , Indiana Stale University , and State Geologist of 

Indiana. 


As to the pecuniary value of these Quarries ; there is a 
large and increasing use of the finer kinds of Marble in this 
country for many purposes ; such for instance as counter tops, 
washstand tops, &c., Ac., &c. The demand for Pure White 
Marble is said to he in excess of the supply. After such Mar¬ 
ble is ready for market it brings from thirty to forty dollars 
per cubic foot— running face measure, twenty cents per square 
inch, one half inch thick. Now suppose that the vein of the 
Moffett’s Creek Quarry is only fifteen hundred feet long and 
averages four feet wide and one loot deep, this would gi\c six 
thousand cubic feet. This polished and ready for use, would 


16 


bring, at thirty-five dollars per cubic foot , two hundred and 
ten thousand dollars; if the vein is ten feet deep, it would 
give two million, one hundred thousand dollars. Allow half 
this for transportation, &c., &c., and there would be a large 
margin left. This amount of Marble, for furniture purposes, 
at twenty cents per square inch, one half inch thick, would be, 
for one square foot, twenty-eight dollars and eighty cents per 
square foot, one half inch thick ; which would give for one 
cubic foot twenty-four times that amount, or six hundred and 
ninety one dollars and twenty cents as the value of one cubic 
foot alone, sawed into slabs one-half inch thick, one foot square 
at twenty cents per square inch, ready for use. Now the six 
thousand cubic feet, multiplied by six hundred and ninety-one 
dollars and twenty cents, would give four million, one hundred 
and forty-seven thousand and two hundred dollars. Say half 
this goes for transportation, dressing, &c., &c. A stock compa¬ 
ny would here have a fine opening and a prospect of very 
profitable returns for an investment. The company which 
proposes to purchase, develope, and work these Marble Quarries 
will have a capital stock of two hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars, in ten thousand shares, at twenty-five dollars per 
share—the subscription price of shares to be twenty dollars, 
subject to no further assessments. 

Specimens of the Marble can be seen by application to 

Messrs. ARCHER A SAVIN, Bankers, 

Mo, 224 Baltimore Street , near Charles, 

BALTIMORE, MI). 

Subscriptions to the Capital Stock, received by Messrs. 
Archer & Savin, Baltimore; J. A. Ruff, Treasurer, Wash¬ 
ington , 1). O.; and by the Officers of the Company in Staunton, 
Ya. 



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